We’ll have new Rochester Lancers coach Josh Rife on Kick This! at 11 a.m. on Saturday morning. Hope you can tune in to AM 1280 locally, whtk.com online or listen on the iHeartRadio app on your smartphone. To see his introduction as the third coach in franchise history, watch the Lancers produced YouTube video below. Fast forward about 8:30 in to see Rife speak. The Lancers start their third Major Indoor Soccer League season on Nov. 16 at home against the defending MISL champion Baltimore Blast and while there were some delays in the release of the schedule due to dates at Blue Cross Arena at the War Memorial, it looks to me like the Lancers got their best set of dates for their 10-match home schedule. Seven of the date matches are on Friday and Saturday and all of them start at 7 p.m. Here’s a link to the schedule.

As a player, Josh Rife was a winner and that’s exactly what the rookie head coach hopes to bring to the Rochester Lancers. “We wanted the right person for the job, one that fits our community image, our values and can take us to where we want to go on the field,” team vice president Rich Randall said of Rife, who was introduced as the MISL club’s new coach on Friday. “He’s natural leader.” The 33-year-old played for NCAA power Indiana University, won a USL-2 championship with the Charlotte Eagles and Major Indoor Soccer League crowns with perennial power, the Milwaukee Wave. In eight pro indoor seasons, he played in five finals. The Lancers play their home opener Nov. 16 at Blue Cross Arena against defending MISL champion, Baltimore.

Although it’s Rife’s first head coaching position, Rochester signed him to a three-year contract for a reason. It wants to develop stability. Rife replaces Syracuse native Jim Hesch, who was elevated to head coach last year but failed to get the Lancers to the playoffs. Billy Andracki, the ex-Rhinos goalkeeper, was the head coach in their inaugural season (2011-12) when Rochester made the playoffs. “From every interaction I’ve had with him to every person I’ve spoken to about him, Josh is an amazing individual,” he said. Rife, a Hawaii native who grew up just north of Dallas, is a former Defender of the Year in USL-2 with Charlotte and in the indoor game with the Detroit Ignition, where he played for Rochester Rhinos coach Bob Lilley. He was on the MISL’s All-Rookie team in 2006 with the Philadelphia Kixx, and just this past season was a second-team All-USL PRO selection for expansion Tampa Bay, where he teamed with Lancers forward Mauricio Salles. They also were former teammates with Charlotte.

“Mauricio probably knew more than he led on, but he was very respectful of the process,” Rife said about the Lancers’ courtship. “He always has spoken very highly of the Lancers’ organization, the ownership and the community.”

Rife has officially retired as a player, he said, joking that the only time he needs to run now “is to stay in shape.” He and his wife, Christy, a former college standout at the University of North Carolina-Wilmington and player in the USL’s W-League, have a daughter, Maddison. She celebrated her first birthday on Thursday. “With the coaches I’ve had that I really respect, the one consistent theme they’ve had is passion and it looks different for everybody,” Rife said, citing legends such as Vince Lombardi, John Wooden and Bob Knight. “But they just love what they do and that just rubs off on your players. You’re not going to fool them.” Rife was an assistant coach in 2008 for PBA Sailfish, which won the National Christian College Athletic Association title. He held that post three years and also has been a graduate assistant. He inherits a Lancers squad with ageless forward Doug Miller, 44, the reigning MVP of the MISL, and Salles, whose explosive left foot has made him an all-league selection the past two years.

Rife likes what he sees, but knows the growing pains the Lancers’ younger players have endured the past two years need to now produce results. “This is a team that can score points,” said Rife, who played against Rochester the past two years. “Granted, a lot came from two players last season but it’s great to have two proven game-changers with Doug and Mauricio.

“This team has had success with some young guys who were still learning the game, but I see a ton of upside in them with another year under their belt.” The Lancers have a combine for players on Saturday and Sunday. For those interested in trying out, visit their website for details (www.rlancers.com).

The Josh Rife file

Position: New head coach, Rochester Lancers (MISL).Age: 33.

Hometown: Denton, Texas (native of Hawaii).

College: Texas Christian; Indiana University, where he was an All-Big Ten pick and played on an NCAA runner-up squads.

Indoor experience: Eight seasons as indoor player including five in which his team reached the finals and three championship teams; played for Milwaukee Wave, Detroit Ignition and Philadelphia Kixx (2006 MISL All-Rookie team.

Outdoor experience: Named USL PRO second-team pick this past season for expansion Tampa Bay, where he teamed with Lancers forward, Mauricio Salles; named 2006 USL-2 Defender of Year for Charlotte; member of Charlotte’s 2005 USL-2 title team.

Well, what a week for Rochester soccer. Hours after news broke that the Rhinos have rehired Bob Lilley as coach, the indoor Rochester Lancers announced that they’ll unveil their new head coach on Friday at 3 p.m. The the third-year Major Indoor Soccer League team, which returns the league’s top attacking duo in reigning MISL MVP Doug Miller and two-time MISL pick Mauricio Salles, is scheduled to start their season in November. After making the MISL playoffs as an expansion team with former Rhinos goalkeeper Billy Andracki as coach, the Lancers missed the postseason last year under Jim Hesch, who wasn’t retained. Rochester is scheduled to open the season in November.

Bob Lilley is back. The Rochester Rhinos are expected to announce on Wednesday they are bringing back the USL Hall 0f Fame head coach who guided their 2010 and 2011 teams to division titles before deciding to leave. Lilley, 47, is a three-time A-League/USL Coach of the Year, including 2010 with Rochester, who has compiled a record of 179-96-56 record in 12 USL seasons. His 2006 Vancouver Whitecaps won the USL First Division crown, upsetting the Rhinos 3-0 in Rochester, and his 2001 Hershey team was runner-up to the Rhinos, losing 2-0 at Frontier Field. A native of Carlise, Pa., he has spent the past two years coaching multiple teams for the Pennsylvania Classics, a top youth club. Lilley replaces Pat Ercoli, the Rhinos president and former coach who took over this year in mid-May after Jesse Myers was relieved of his duties following a 1-6-1 start. While Rochester went 5-4-9 under Ercoli, 55, they finished 6-10-10 and in 11th place in USL PRO, missing the playoffs for the first time in 18 years. Ercoli coached the Rhinos to A-League titles in 1998, 2000 and 2001 and the 1999 U.S. Open Cup championship. They remain the only hardware the club has won.

“I missed the environment, the USL and certainly Rochester. I had a great time and great experience there,” said Lilley, who has coached in Hershey (1997-2001), Montreal (2002-03), Vancouver (2005-07) and the Rhinos. “This is an opportunity to step back into that environment and I’m looking forward to the challenge. I’m excited. I’m recharged and refocused and want another opportunity to build on what we did previously.”

Lilley is expected to sign a two-year contract, the same as he did after replacing Darren Tilley following the 2010 season.

“I think he believes he has unfinished business here,” Ercoli said.

Lilley overhauled the Rhinos’ roster from 2009 to 2010, when his squad included only a few returnees but went 16-8-6 and won the USL Conference before losing in the first round of the playoffs to eventual champion Puerto Rico. The 2011 Rhinos weren’t as good, going 12-8-4, but still managed to finish atop the USL PRO’s National Division. However, despite playing at home and with a man advantage in the second half of the division finals, Rochester lost 2-1 at Sahlen’s Stadium.

“I need to say it: I think the (2011 team) was solid, but I didn’t feel like I got the very best out of them. I expected more. I was frustrated that, although we had a good record, we didn’t play to our ability and didn’t give ourselves a better chance (in that loss),” said Lilley, who is expected to come on board in full capacity on Nov. 1. “But I didn’t look at it as one game, I looked at the whole year and not reaching our best level. If a team doesn’t achieve at the highest level, some blame rests with the players and some rests with the coach.

“I felt like I needed to pull myself away from the situation, get a break, get some perspective and make sure that if you’re back in that environment you’re ready to challenge players and yourself.”

About 72 hours after the Western New York Flash lost the National Women’s Soccer League title game, 2-0, to the Portland Thorns on Saturday night in Rochester, Abby Wambach and Carli Lloyd of the Flash will be back in action on Tuesday night against Mexico in an exhibition at RFK Stadium. Kick-off is 8 p.m. on Fox Sports 1. In addition to Abby and Carli, Flash midfielder and backup goalie, Pamela Tajonar. It’s the Americans’ first action since Wambach broke Mia Hamm’s international scoring record back in June. They took July and August off to let players focus on the NWSL season. See below for a quality video recapping the NWSL title game.

EARLS EARNS USL HONOR: Defender Danny Earls, who was named MVP of the 2013 Rhinos, has been named to USL PRO’s second team.

LANCERS TRYOUTS: The Rochester Lancers haven’t named a new coach to replace Jim Hesch for the upcoming Major Indoor Soccer League season, but they’re holding tryouts for hopeful players on Sept. 14-15 at Total Sports Experience, 880 Elmgrove Road in Gates. Tryouts cost $100. Prospective players can find all the details at www.rlancers.com. After being the only expansion team in the Major Indoor Soccer League to make the playoffs two years ago, the Lancers failed to qualify last year despite a strong 1-2 punch on the attack with league MVP Doug Miller and Mauricio Salles, the team’s top-scorer in 2011-12. I would expect news on the team’s schedule – or at least its home opener – this week and the coach this week.

COMETS NAME COACH: In case you missed it, the Missouri Comets have named Vlatko Andonovski as their new head coach. He was the Coach of the Year in the National Women’s Soccer League for regular-season runner-up, FC Kansas City.

CHARLOTTE UPSETS RICHMOND: The USL PRO Championship Game is set. To no one’s surprise, No. 2 seed Orlando has made it, but the fifth-seeded Charlotte Eagles are the party crashers. They upset No. 1 Richmond, 2-1. Orlando ousted defending champion and No. 4 Charleston, 3-2. The title game is Saturday in Orlando.

Seconds after the runner-up medal was placed around her neck, Carli Lloyd took it off and clutched it in her hand. It wasn’t the prize she and the Western New York Flash wanted at Sahlen’s Stadium on Saturday night. But the Flash admitted it: The third-seeded Portland Thorns beat them, 2-0, to capture the inaugural National Women’s Soccer League championship in front of a crowd of 9,129. They marched into Rochester, where top-seeded WNY (11-5-8) hadn’t lost in 11 straight – all the way back to April 27 – and beat the Flash fair (pretty much) and square. It spoiled WNY’s bid to win a fourth straight title in a fourth different league, and was a bitter end to what star forward Abby Wambach hoped would be a storybook ending to her first season playing for the hometown Flash.

“I don’t like losing, but when the cameras are (on me), you’ve got to put on a pretty face and do the right thing because at the end of the day they proved to be the better team,” the Pittsford native and reigning FIFA World Player of the Year said. “We’re devastated by not being able to pull it out, but I think the result was deserving.”

Indeed, the Thorns (13-6-5) gutted out the win despite playing the final 33 minutes shorthanded after Kat Williamson was given a red card (ejection) for taking down Wambach just outside the penalty area. The rookie defender did the same thing seven minutes earlier, in the 49th minute, to prevent a Wambach breakaway and that may have saved Portland. “Wambach’s clearly in and scores off that,” if not for the foul, Flash coach Aaran Lines said, before acknowledging that, “Portland deserved (to win). I don’t think we performed at our best level.”

The go-ahead goal, along with much of the play all night – fast-paced, of high quality and at times physical – was a beauty. It’s what soccer fans call a wonder shot. Midfielder Tobin Heath, a U.S. national team starter, scored on a 36-yard rocket into the top left corner off a free kick in the 40th minute. Veteran Christine Sinclair added an insurance goal in stoppage time off a pass from Alex Morgan, as the two former Flash forwards connected for the clincher on the same field they helped WNY win the WPS title in 2011. Morgan didn’t start, but the U.S. national team star forward played 18 minutes off the bench. She hadn’t played since spraining a knee ligament Aug. 7. How much she and Heath, who suffered a foot injury in the second half of the 3-2 semifinal upset at No. 2 FC Kansas City, would play was in question all week. Heath exited in the 63rd minute Saturday, but her right foot looked great on that shot. “I knew I’d have limited opportunities and as soon as I saw the free kick in that spot I knew I wanted it,” said Heath, who spent half the NWSL season playing in France before making her debut on July 14 in Portland against the Flash.

As far as how her foot felt, Heath said it “wasn’t even close to 80 percent.”

WNY and Portland tied in their two regular-season meetings, a 1-1 standoff in Oregon on July 14 with plenty of action, and a 0-0 draw on Aug. 10 in Rochester when both teams came in with tired legs. The Flash played without Lloyd in the first matchup, but the Thorns found a way to keep her from converting Saturday. Lloyd had scored 10 goals in 16 matches, one shy of Wambach’s team-leading 11. The Flash led 18-9 in shots, but credit goalkeeper Karina LeBlanc (seven saves) and a hustling Thorns defense – one that recovered from a late-season funk that saw it allow nine goals in a four-game stretch – for holding them in check. Portland denied WNY space on the wings, which prevented the Flash from swinging in crosses looking for Wambach. It was just the fourth time WNY had been shut out.

“I don’t think we created enough clear-cut opportunities to get back in the game,” Lines said. “I just felt our final ball tonight was just off. We tried to force things. We needed to be more patient.”

Both teams had chances early, but both goalies were sharp. LeBlanc tipped Samantha Kerr’s header off the crossbar in the 12th minute and 10 minutes later rookie Adrianna Franch needed to tip a line drive header by Sinclair from 13 yards over the bar. Lloyd and Portland’s Nikki Marshall also had one-on-one looks, but missed just wide. Franch made a great solo stop on Danielle Foxhoven’s breakaway in the 37th minute. It was the first time in four matches that the Flash faced a deficit. The last time it happened, on Aug. 3 at Boston, they scored twice in the final 13 minutes to pull out a 2-2 tie. While they rallied a handful of times for draws, the Flash only came from behind to win once all season on May 24 against Chicago at home. “Tonight wasn’t our night,” Wambach said.

On each of Williamson’s fouls on Wambach, Lloyd didn’t do much with ensuing free kick, blasting one wide from 24 yards and the second into a wall from 19. Up a player, the Flash had a few half-chances, but couldn’t find the tying goal. The closest they came was on a 44-yard free kick by Brittany Taylor that hit the crossbar as LeBlanc retreated trying to get to the floater. “For them to hold the lead playing down a man for 35 minutes, if we weren’t going to score under those circumstances we probably weren’t going to,” Wambach said.

PROVING THEMSELVES: Within 30 minutes of the National Women’s Soccer League announcing its Best XI and then 11 more picks for its all-league second team on Wednesday, one Western New York Flash player offered this tweet: “LOL.” To me, it was as profound as it was succinct. Three little letters that matched the number of Flash players honored among the NWSL’s best 22. Laughable – exactly. How in the world does Carli Lloyd NOT make the top 22? Only Abby Wambach and defender Brittany Taylor (first team) and goalie Adrianna Franch (second) were honored, while FC Kansas City had seven players honored (four first-teamers). Yes, K.C. was very good and led the league for much of the past month, but the way the picks shook out and its sweep of postseason awards, you’d have thought the Blues won the NWSL going away. They didn’t. In fact, they followed up their 10-match unbeaten streak, a league high (one better than WNY’s), by losing their last two matches to cough up the No. 1 seed and regular-season crown to the Flash, the NWSL’s most consistent club all season and certainly after their 0-2-1 start (without Lloyd). Whether it was a flawed voting system or just simply a lack of regard for the Flash, who were first in goals scored and allowed, we’ll never know. And while its players haven’t really said much publicly about the snub to Lloyd and a few others, such as 19-year-old winger Sam Kerr, who certainly belonged among the best 22, you just know they’ve discussed the disrespect privately. So I pulled Lloyd and Wambach aside briefly and asked them about it after Friday’s final practice before Saturday’s NWSL Championship against No. 3 Portland.

“I think it’s just more fuel,” said Lloyd, whose eight goals (in 15 matches) were tied for fourth. “We know what we’re capable of. But at the end of the day, everybody wants to be holding up that championship cup. That’s all the matters, really.”

Indeed, Abby echoed the same sentiment, saying she knows every K.C. award-winner would trade the honor to be playing Saturday. “It’s obviously something that makes us want to prove ourselves even more,” said Wambach, who posted team highs in goals (11) and assists (8) and was runner-up for league MVP to Lauren Holiday, an honor she said the K.C. midfielder absolutely deserved (I agree).

Portland has its own disrespect card to play, too, because although the Thorns finished tied with WNY and KC at 38 points – the Flash won the crown based on tiebreakers (it also went 1-0-1 vs. KC, by the way), Alex Morgan, Christine Sinclair and Rachel Buehler only made the NWSL second team. The Thorns had no first-teamers, the only team without one. So who wins tonight? Here are five things to watch:

1. HOW HEALTHY ARE MORGAN AND HEATH? Morgan practiced Thursday and Friday; midfielder Tobin Heath (foot) did not – at least as far as we know. Media was asked to clear Sahlen’s Stadium after the first 15 minutes of the Thorns practice each day. Heath declined to discuss any specifics of her foot after Friday’s session, but it looks as if she hasn’t trained all week. How in the world can she start if that’s the case? Well, she’s a world-class player, so we’ll see. Coach Cindy Parlow Cone, in full gamesmanship mode, said each will play “significant roles” tonight. Certainly, though, neither Heath nor Morgan (knee) are 100%. In fact, I don’t think Morgan will start. Portland has played some good soccer without her the past three matches and she’d be a great weapon off the bench, a role she’s familiar with from her 2011 season with WNY and the U.S. national team. If Morgan was only available for about 15 minutes in last week’s semifinal, I just can’t see how she can give much more than 45-60 minutes tonight.

2. LLOYD’S PRESENCE A DIFFERENCE-MAKER: Everyone is disregarding the Aug. 10 tie, 0-0, between these teams in Rochester because both clubs had dead legs as they ended a busy stretch of matches and Portland was playing its first full match without Morgan, who’d been injured three days before in a 2-1 loss at Boston. The July 21 matchup in Portland was much different. It was back and forth, full of action and goalies Franch (nine saves) and Karina LeBlanc (seven) were terrific. But the Flash midfielders Adriana Martin (national team duty) and Lloyd (friend’s wedding) were each unavailable that day and the Flash had lost 2-1 at Seattle just 72 hours earlier. They still played the Thorns to a 1-1 draw and if Wambach had cashed in a late PK, the Flash would have won. All of that had coach Aaran Lines feeling pretty upbeat about the effort on the road. Lloyd’s confidence is sky high right now. Look for her to tilt the title match in the Flash’s favor.

3. WHICH PORTLAND DEFENSE SHOWS UP? The Thorns finished tied for third in the league in goals allowed (25), right behind WNY and KC, but they had a four-game stretch late in the season, right before the 0-0 result on Aug. 10 in Rochester, when they allowed nine goals in four matches. They seemed to have straightened that out, but then in the first 25 minutes of the semifinals were giving KC acres of space to operate and that’s how they feel behind. They solved that later, in part, by making their attack their best defense and keeping the ball away from KC. But if Portland comes out slow again tonight, the Flash could shred them and put LeBlanc under heavy pressure.

4. AERIAL GAME SHOULD BE KEY: Look, up in the air, it’s a bird, it’s a plane – no – it’s Wambach. Look for the Flash to do exactly what they did last week in a 2-0 semifinal win over Sky Blue FC. Get the ball wide and send in crosses looking for the best target player in the world. Here’s the difference: Portland doesn’t have as much size in the back as Sky Blue, so Wambach might be able to dominate and if she’s first to all those floaters, watch out. Buehler and rookie center back, Kat Williamson, along with Allie Long, will have to be strong. It doesn’t mean she’ll score, but those second balls loose in the box will create havoc and might turn Adriana or Kerr or Lloyd or Taylor into a hero.

5. HANDLING THAT BIG-GAME PRESSURE: There are veterans on both sides, but the Flash have more players who have played in a final. Start with Wambach and Lloyd, who each said having that experience just makes a player feel more comfortable in the moment, not afraid. In fact, Abby said it last week and repeated it on Friday: The team whose players are fearless and unafraid to take chances will win. Mix in all those returnees from last year’s Flash squad, such as captain McCall Zerboni (who I think won’t start against, as rookie Amy Barczuk gets the nod due to Zerboni’s injury), Adriana, Angela Salem and Katherine Reynolds, and they have more big-game experience on which to draw.

Whether or not Portland forward Alex Morgan is in the starting lineup for Saturday’s 8 p.m. National Women’s Soccer League championship in Rochester, the Western New York Flash don’t plan to change what they do. Why would they? The league’s top defense has shut out five of its last seven opponents, including Portland in a 0-0 draw on Aug. 10 in Rochester, and is 9-0-2 at home since dropping its April 27 home opener. Top-seeded WNY (11-4-8) also has outscored opponents 23-7 at home. Morgan, the United States national team star and the Thorns’ top-scorer (8 goals/5 assists), has missed the last three matches for third-seeded Portland (12-6-5) after spraining the MCL in her right knee in a 2-1 loss at Boston on Aug. 7. That was right before the Thorns came to Rochester, so she didn’t play.

“Nothing’s going to change. We’re at home, we’re in our own back yard. We’ve been good here all season,” Flash coach Aaran Lines said shortly after Friday morning’s open practice at Sahlen’s Stadium, where two years ago Morgan and fellow Portland frontrunner Christine Sinclair (8 goals/2 assists) helped the Flash win the WPS Championship, 5-4, on penalty kicks after playing Philadelphia to a 1-1 draw.

“We’re aware of Alex’s strengths, obviously, having seen her develop over the last couple of years and having worked with her personally. She’s a world-class player, but from a tactical standpoint we have two options we believe they’ll come out (in for their lineup) and whether’s Morgan up top or (Danielle) Foxhoven and Sinclair, then we’ll adapt accordingly. But we’re going to focus on what we’re good at and if we do that we’ll be in good shape.”

Morgan practiced Thursday and Friday. Midfielder Tobin Heath (foot), another U.S. national team starter, did not practice Thursday or Friday while media was allowed to watch (first 15 minutes). But coach Cindy Parlow Cone said she expects each to play “significant roles” on Saturday. Whether they’ll start remains unclear. Morgan and Parlow Cone said they’ll discuss what’s best for the team. “It’s a good problem that our head coach has,” Sinclair said Thursday. “I think our last three games have been some of the best soccer we’ve played all year and it’s been without (Morgan). Obviously, if we can add her to the mix we’re only going to be that much better.”

Just like everything changed for the United States women’s soccer team at the 2011 World Cup, the same thing happened for Canada at last year’s Olympics. What’s pretty cool: Neither squad won the tournament, but their performances were so stirring that they inspired people. See, it’s not just about winning, Mr. Sheen. As the players love to say, it’s about the journey. For the Canadians, their bronze was their first ever medal at the Olympics, but it was their grit and heart in the 4-3 semifinal loss to the eventual champions, the Americans, that really won over their country (just like the quarterfinal comeback by the U.S. against Brazil in the World Cup quarterfinals, capped by Abby Wambach’s almost unbelievable tying goal in the final seconds of stoppage time of extra time). But I don’t want to digress too much here, because this is going to be about Christine Sinclair. I kept promising her in 2011 when she played for the Western New York Flash that I was going to do a profile on her, and I never delivered. Today, I finally have. Here’s a link to my profile on Canada’s most prolific goal-scorer who wants to inspire other girls and women in her country to play soccer. She had an MVP season for the Flash in 2011. She had 10 goals, 8 assists and I thought she should have been MVP of Women’s Professional Soccer, not just the Flash. Instead, Veronica Boquete of Philadelphia won the award. I’m not sure if it was the broken nose and poor showing by Canada in the World Cup. I’m not sure if it was Alex Morgan, and the story on her rising star, that I did following the World Cup, and I’m not sure if it was my editor telling me the week of the WPS title game that he wanted a newsier story on the future of the women’s league, but things just kept getting in the way of me writing that story on “Sinc.” When we spoke on the phone earlier in the week, I referenced my swing-and-miss on delivering on that promise to help jog her memory who I was. Yep, she remembered my promise. Here’s the thing about Sinclair: Put any semblance of talent around her – and she had that all over the pitch with the star-studded 2011 champion Flash – and she wins. Two NCAA titles at the University of Portland. Two professional titles in WPS with FC Gold Pride (2010) and the Flash. And now she’s on the Portland Thorns and going for three on Saturday against her old team and a few former teammates on the Flash. And now she has Morgan on her team again. That’s trouble for WNY.

I knew Sinclair was going to be trouble for the U.S. in that semifinal last year. I knew that because I’d seen how special a player she was in 2011. And when she kept scoring goals, putting the Canadians ahead, I kept telling the people in the bar where I watched on Block Island, near Newport, R.I., that it wasn’t surprising to me. They thought I was nuts. I just kept saying, “You don’t know who she is, but the world will now.” So, for me as an American and someone who has chronicled Wambach’s entire career, that day was a win-win for me. My country won and yet a player who I’ve thought had stayed in the shadows too long shined bright on the biggest stage. Sinclair’s a different type of forward than Abby, whose aerial game in superior. She can probably beat you in more ways than Abby and she’ll probably end up beating Abby’s all-time goal-scoring record, which stands at 160. That’s 15 ahead of Sinclair, who has played 198 matches for Canada (that’s nine fewer than Abby). Wambach is 33; Sinclair is 30. So, we’ll see who ends up No. 1. But I can tell you that I feel fortunate to have been in Rochester at this time, from the mid-1990s to now, when I’ve been able to write about two of the greatest goal-scorers that’ll ever play soccer.

FRIDAY’S PRACTICES: The Flash practice at 11 a.m. at Sahlen’s Stadium and the Thorns go at 3 p.m. Look for my tweets and updates from both sessions. If you missed it, here was the update on Portland forward Alex Morgan and midfielder Tobin Heath off Thursday’s Thorns session.

POST-MATCH PARTY DEAL: Want to party (or drown your sorrows) with the Flash after Saturday night’s NWSL Championship? The Distillery in Henrietta, 3010 Winton Road South, will host a post-match event. The first 100 fans who buy a $20 gift card are guaranteed entrance (cards on on sale already). After that, it’s probably anyone’s guess how much room will be available. For all the details on how to get in, click here.

TICKET UPDATE: As of Wednesday, more than 7,000 tickets had been sold for the NWSL final, so I’m predicting a crowd of 10,000-plus. My advice: I wouldn’t wait to buy tickets and certainly wouldn’t count on there being a short line to buy on Saturday. So if you don’t want to miss the start, get after it now.

KC COACH TO MISL: Vlatko Adonovski, who led FC Kansas City to a second-place finish in the NWSL and was named league Coach of the Year, is the new head coach of the Missouri Comets of the Major Indoor Soccer League. The NWSL and MISL teams are owned by the same company. Click here for more.

LANCERS TRYOUTS: Speaking of the MISL, the Rochester Lancers will hold tryouts on Sept. 14 and Sept. 15 at Total Sports Experience in Gates. It costs $100 to try out. For more information, go to the Lancers’ site.

KICK THIS: We are expecting to lineup at least one player and both Flash coach Aaran Lines and Portland’s Cindy Parlow Cone for our radio show at 11 a.m. on Saturday on Sports 1280 WHTK. Hope you can tune in. You can hear us live at www.whtk.com.

Jeff DiVeronica has covered professional soccer and the Rhinos for the Democrat and Chronicle since the team's inception in 1996. "Devo's Direct Kicks" takes aim mostly at Rochester soccer, but will also highlight the USL, MLS and U.S. national team play. Devo, his nickname since college at St. John Fisher, also hosts two weekly radio shows each Saturday on WHTK-AM/FM (1280/107.3 or www.whtk.com). "Kick This!" (11 a.m.) features soccer talk, while the Canandaigua National Bank High School Sports Show (noon) covers Section V sports. E-mail Jeff at jdiveron@DemocratandChronicle.com.
Or follow him on Twitter: @RocDevo